Oops

I just realized its been two weeks since I last posted. I apologize and it's quite unacceptable but I have good reason. I'm moving into a new role at work and things have been quite hectic. Combine that with my twice weekly French classes and it's actually kinda chaotic. Ill probably post again this weekend so stay tuned. I got a good amount of Japan pics left to go through.

Japosting continued

It's impossible not to be relaxed after a nice bath, alcohol and a nice dinner but we decided to make sure that we were extra relaxed by taking a bath in the morning as well. 

The SO made good use of the terrace and outdoor bath. 

It actually required two faucets to fill up the bath quickly. It would've been a burden on the environment if it didn't just spew out from the ground like next day's Taco Bell. 

We only got a parting shot of the outdoor sign before we were off to Suwa to visit my relatives. 

The SO requested a stop at the Hakone Venetian Glass Museum. Yes, for some reason they decided to create an entire museum dedicated to fine Venetian glass in a region known for earthquakes and volcanic eruption. 

Glass as leaves. 

All the glass was quite the sight since it was such a nice day. 

I can't appreciate stuff like this. It just looks like lint. I'm sure it's delicate and really amazing art but it just looks like a big piece of lint. 

Sparkle Sparke. Mr. SPARKLE. 

I'd like to meet the person who commissions stuff like this for their house. 

Brought over from an Italian villa to be admired by Japanese folks in Hakone. 

Blackface clowns.

Buon Giorno!! says the jester popping out of your wall before he attacks you in your sleep. 

Lake Ashi. 

Pirate ships at Lake Ashi. Don't question it. Just accept that there are TWO pirate ships in this Japanese lake 

A cloud hat covering Mt. Fuji. Supposedly it's quite the rarity to see this with the shadow. 

We then dropped by an old Japanese village. We only had 30 minutes to visit the village so time we breezed through it. 

The place just reminded me of Last Samurai. 

Of the 30 minutes that we had, 29 of those were spent eating so needless to say all we did was walk by the buildings.

The shopkeeper insisted we have oyaki. Dumplings filled with red bean. We sure love our red bean. 

After a long day of travelling we arrived at my grandparents house to be greeted with a warm stove and some hot tea. Warmed up through and through, we passed out pretty much right after dinner. 

Recap the day. Saw some glass, ate more and then ended up at my grandparents.

JAAAPPPPAANNN: The 2nd coming

The 2nd full day of our Japan trip was spent travelling and settling into our accommodations at Hakone Yumoto. About 3 years ago when the SO and I went to Japan we stayed at a wonderful inn in Hakone and we hoped to relive another great experience.  

Exterior shot of the Hotel Okada, where we would stay for the night. Bitg hotel. Almost a bit too big for our liking. 

The area around the Hakone-Yumoto train station was packed with small shops selling snacks, crackers, and other wares. It's a total tourist trap but they're hard to resist especially when they're selling delicious looking red bean cakes. 

The Hakone Yumoto area was developed partly due to the Edo-era  footpath that crossed through the mountainous region. It was the primary route that connected Tokyo and Imperial Kyoto so it was well traveled and serviced by area merchants and inns. 

We had some time to kill before check-in so we walked around the area. There really wasn't much. This was a "highlight"

For some odd reason, well the reason being that the Japanese people are just generally odd, modifying vans with crazy bodywork is a thing to do. Taking inspiration from Transformers, visual homages to various anime or Western cartoons (in this van's case Disney) and painting the van in all colors of ugly creates this monstrosity. If you think I'm exaggerating click the link to a Google Image search Vantastic

The whole hour of casual strolling made the SO hungry so we stopped by a small teashop where she got red bean and gelatin and some tea. 

I got this mochi red bean thing. It was quite mochilicious. 

The primary reason we stayed at the Hotel Okada was because the SO wanted a room with an outdoor bath. My ability to say no to the SO is somewhat lacking so she got what she wanted. 

It's a full on bath that's outside of our room. The water is sourced from the local hot spring so it's supposedly full of minerals and other good things that allow hotels to charge a 30% premium. 

I love going to Japanese hot spring inns/hotels because of the baths but it's also a great spot to get really good kaiseki dinners. 

A starter of bamboo, sesame seed dumplng and salmon. 

Mini appetizer. Salmon roe, sushi, tofu and veggies.  

Mountain vegetables and some roe. 

Each vertical line is a course. I think it was about ten courses from start to finish. As much as it's small dishes and Japanese sized portions, it's still incredibly filling. 

Sashimi. It came halfway through our meal so it served as a palate cleanser. The French use sorbet the Japanese use sashimi. Tres bien. By the way after 7 classes of French that's about the extent of my French.  

Fish balls. 

Wagyu beef. We were told that this was going to be steamed  

Some deep fried fish. Japanese love to deep fry stuff almost as much as Paula Dean but the batter they use is much lighter and seems healthier. I don't know if it really is. Eh who cares. It's not like diabetes runs in my family....

Meat steaming in process. Steam your meat, she said. 

My meat looks steamed. 

The last couple of dishes were soup based. The Japanese typically eat their soup at the end of the meal and not at the beginning. You know you're at a fake Japanese restaurant if they bring out the miso soup at the beginning of your meal. 

The SO still had a good amount of beer left so I had two of these and some sake so I was out for the count after the meal.

They wouldn't let me sleep just yet. Strawberries with some cream drizzled on top. Hahahahhaha. God I love filling this blog with juvenile humor. 

Day 3 Preview